The present invention relates to a structure and a method for joining together members, and more particularly relates to a structure and a method for joining together a hard plate and a soft plate.
In various structures, a hard plate such as a steel plate and a soft plate such as a synthetic resin plate, a cardboard plate, or a wooden plate, are superimposed and joined together in various ways.
For example, a conventionally made door structure of an automobile is shown in FIG. 1. A door outer panel 1 and a door inner panel 2 are joined together at their upper and lower edges. A portion 2a of the inner panel is displaced towards the inner part of the door. A cardboard member 3 is provided on the outside of the portion 2a. The upper part of the cardboard member 3 is supported on a trim supporting panel 2'. The surface of the cardboard member 3 is covered by a pad 20 and a cover 25, which together constitute a door trim. The steel plate 2' and the cardboard member 3 may be joined together by various connecting structures, such as, for example, a rivet, shown in section in FIG. 2, or a metallic clip 6, shown in section in FIG. 3.
Such structures require joint members such as rivets or clips, and further holes must be provided in at least the steel plate 2' for passing the clips or the rivets. Therefore such a joining structure or method is expensive and involves several production steps.